Discuss what effect the meals have on the children in terms of school attendance, performance and nutrition?
School Attendance: Evidence gathered from WFP monitoring of the School Feeding Program in Uganda suggests that it is having a powerful impact in terms of improving general attendance rates.
• In an evaluation of WFP’s School Feeding Program conducted in 2006, it was discovered that the introduction of the school meal had contributed towards an increase in the overall attendance rate in WFP-assisted schools from 83% (in 2005) to 96% (in 2006).
• During a short period in 2007 — when a resource shortfall forced a temporary interruption to the entire School Feeding Program — attendance rates dropped back to 87%.
• In an evaluation conducted in 2007 of the “girl’s take home ration” (GTHR) program, it was discovered that there had been an improvement in gender equity between boys and girls in WFP-assisted schools, from 89 girls to every 100 boys in 2006 to 90 girls to every 100 boys in 2007.
Performance: Evidence gathered from WFP monitoring of the School Feeding Program in Uganda also suggests that it is having an impact on the pupils’ performance. In a survey conducted at WFP-assisted schools, 95% of teachers claimed they had witnessed an improvement in the pupils’ concentration levels and their ability to assimilate new information since the introduction of the program.
Nutrition: A WFP-sponsored school meal provides around 27% of the daily energy requirements of a child. WFP maize meal and oil are fortified with essential vitamins and minerals that can address anemia, goiter and night blindness, among other illnesses.
What plans are there for making school meals available for all children?
Although WFP Uganda’s School Feeding Program is an effective, short-term remedy for addressing low school attendance and the gender disparity in primary schools, it does not tackle the underlying causes of these problems. Furthermore, the policy stance taken by the Government of Uganda on this issue is that the responsibility for feeding children, even during school hours, should ultimately reside with parents.
In response, WFP is supporting a process in which the responsibility for school feeding will be gradually transferred from external development agencies (such as WFP and schools) to parents. To achieve this goal, a campaign is being piloted in a few districts, the purpose of which is:
Article comments